For the Love of Mudblood
by czsunny
Summary: After Ron and Hermione broke up, her eyes were set on a certain blonde haired Slytherin who just so happened to return the feelings. Can they still maintain their relationship with a jealous minded Ron watching their every move? Can love prevail?


"Damnit Granger," Draco mumbled under his breath as he made his way to the

Slytherin table in the great hall. Ever since she had punched him in their third

year he'd felt attracted to her, but now, since he was head boy and she head

girl, they spent an awful amount of time together and Draco could not get her

out of his head. "She's a filthy mudblood; it could never work." Draco continued

to tell himself such things to try and rid her from his thoughts, yet it seemed

that this only created an even larger onslaught of Granger related thoughts.

Draco scowled and abruptly left the great hall, in which he'd only been in for a

few measly minutes. He stormed through the halls, not paying attention to where

his feet were carrying him, only of how beautiful Hermione's luscious brown hair

had looked today, and to Draco, every other day of the last four years.

As soon as Draco looked up from his thought of her hair, he immediately

regretted it. He found himself in the library, directly in front of Granger.

Without looking up from her book that she seemed so thoroughly engrossed in,

she asked, " what do you want Malfoy? Come to tell me how dirty my blood is

again?"

Immediately regaining his composure, Draco reminded himself who he was up

against.

"Oh don't flatter yourself Granger, you know after the war I changed."

"So it seems. You bring more and more of your little midnight girlfriends back

to the dorm, how could I possibly of forgotten?" If Hermione had looked up at

that point she would have witnessed the flash of annoyance, and a bit of hurt,

that had crossed his face.

"Jealous Granger? Hoping to be next in line?" Malfoy knew his comment was

completely uncalled for, but at this point he would have done anything to get

her to look up from her book so he could catch even the slightest of glimpses of

her chocolate brown eyes, that had such a delightful sparkle that they could

light a room brighter than any star. He bet they could light up the musty old

Hogs Head, even on its dreariest days.

Draco got his wish, as Hermione looked up from the book and glared at him. "Oh

please Malfoy, I wouldn't even consider befriending you, much less becoming one

of your worthless one night stands." On that note, Hermione, picked up her items

and left the library without a second glance in Draco's direction.

As soon as Hermione was out of his line of vision, Draco slumped down into a

chair, put his head in his hands, and sighed. He sat there for quite a while,

deep in thought, wondering how he could get Granger to love him as he loved her.

…

"Ginny, he is a stupid, arrogant little prat. How could you even remotely

consider feelings between the two of us?"

"Calm down Mione, I'm just saying, the two of you spend an awful amount of

time staring at each other. Plus you really should consider Draco. It's true

when he says he's changed. After losing his father, most of the Malfoy clan

realized that they were playing for the wrong team."

"So? He lost his father, yes. Almost everybody lost somebody. He may have

realized that following Voldemort wasn't going to get him anywhere, but he's

still a prat. And staring at each other? I don't recall any such moment!"

Hermione's voice faltered at the last moment and Ginny and herself both knew

that she was lying.

"Well I think you should give him a chance. I mean since you and Ron didn't

work out, the least you could do is give him a shot."

"Even if I liked Malfoy, which obviously I don't, I doubt he would ever feel

the same," Hermione sighed, giving her true feelings away to one of her best

friends. "Alright I admit it, I like Draco Malfoy, but it could never be Ginny!

He's a Slytherin, even if his family has changed, they would still attempt to

disown him, if not for me being a mudblood then for him associating with the

likes of a Gryffindor." Hermione's eyebrows furrowed as she lost herself in

thought.

"Oh give it a rest Mione, the least you could do is try. I'll even do your

make-up and let you borrow some of my clothes; we should be the same size."

Hermione frowned. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"If you expect to woo anyone, you're going to have to wear something slightly

more appealing that jeans and a turtleneck." Hermione sighed again but allowed

her friend to drag her away to change her look.

As soon as Hermione entered the great hall the following morning, it seemed as

if all conversations had ceased. As her cheeks reddened, she turned to Ginny and

whispered to her, " Are you sure it looks okay Ginny? Everyone is staring!"

" Oh shush Hermione, you look great, really it's beautiful. My clothes fit you

perfectly." Ginny had outfitted Hermione in a dark purple skirt that sat just

above her knees, a black blouse which accented all her curves, her gryffindor

tie, and just enough make-up to amplify her amazing features. After several

minutes of tedious work, Ginny had managed to take her frizzy hair and pin it up

into a nice bun.

As Ginny and Mione made their way to their normal place at the Gryffindor table,

everyone's eyes seemed to follow, and as they sat down, the whispers began. That

mornings gossip was purely centered around Hermione's new style.

" Bloody hell Mione, what happened to you?" Ron asked in utter disbelief.

"if you must know Ronald, though it isn't your business, I felt like a change

was necessary, that's all," Mione turned her attention toward buttering a slice

of toast leaving Ron to ponder in his confusion.

...…

Draco sat at the slytherin table, yet again sulking over how much Granger had

changed him, and his views on mudbloods. He looked up from his sulking as a dead

silence settled over the great hall. He turned his head in the direction of

everyone else, at that very moment, when he turned toward the entrance, his jaw

dropped. There, in that very entrance to the great hall, stood Hermione Granger,

looking, well... hot. This being the only word Draco's mind seemed to process

and that moment. As If things in Draco's mind weren't jumbled as it was, when

she turned and glanced at him, though it was barely quick enough for him to

notice, every thought in his mind that wasn't related to Hermione, was

completely obliterated from that moments thought process.

As she sat down in her normal spot, students all around him, and at the other

tables, proceeded to whisper and judge her current attire. Draco though, did not

proceed to whisper. He was still stuck in a Granger induced trance, his mouth

agape, and his eyes trained on her. This was abruptly halted when Draco's best,

and only close friend, Blaise,turned and said just loud enough for only Draco to

hear, "Draco mate, you should close your mouth before you start catching

pixies!" Draco turned a shade of bright pink, his pale skin only brightening it.

At this point Blaise could no longer control himself, he burst out laughing,

quite loud. A few heads turned to look to find out what had interrupted their

conversations. "Damn Draco, I never thought I'd say this mate but man you've got

a thing for Granger, and it's bad!"

"Shut up Blaise before I hex you into next week," Draco mumbled under his

breath, not accepting nor denying what his friend had said. Thinking to himself,

Damnit Granger, at this point it seems like your out to get me.

Could she possibly like me back? Draco quickly shoved the thought from him mind

before slamming his head against the hard slytherin table for the second time

that week.

...

The next class of the day was double potions for Gryffindor and Slytherin and

the only two students who showed any remote enthusiasm was, in no surprise,

Draco and Hermione. Hermione was practically skipping to class, with all the

nice comments she had gotten about her new look that morning, her self-esteem

was at an all-time high. Hermione walked into class, and was all but beaming

when she said hello to professor Snape. Harry and Ron exchanged worried looks

but said nothing.

On the other side of the class room, Draco was whole-heartedly talking to Blaise

about some crazy plan he'd made to get back at Hermione for her new found

beauty. Blaise just shook his head, knowing that Draco wouldn't go through with

something so idiotic, but let the tall blonde Slytherin continue to babble and

rant until Snape summoned the students to take their seats.

"Today we will be creating an Awakening potion. You will be partnered in pairs

of my choice," Snape finished with malicious smirk on his face. The students

gave a groan, for they knew he would pair each slytherin with a gryffindor, and

vice versa. Snape began to drone on, listing the pairs for the day, he finished

with these three pairs, "Ron and Goyle, Harry and Blaise, and Draco and

Hermione," as Snape finished talking almost everyone gave another groan, while

Hermione and Draco gave out a silent sigh of relief. Snape had given the two

what they had been crossing their fingers and hoping for as he listed out the

pairs. "if I hear one more groan Weasley, it will be fifty points from

gryffindor. You may find your partners an begin, the instructions are on the

board, and if you have to ask where to find the ingredients, I will banish you

from the classroom," Snape finished in his deep drawl and returned to his desk

in the front of the classroom.

The first portion of the potion making had been going quite well for Hermione

and Draco, there was minimal arguing between the two as they worked in a

comfortable silence. This was, until Draco had added the wrong amount of

Wolfsbane to the cauldron. As the potion began to bubble, in a shade of bright

green, Hermione started lecturing Draco about his mistake, "Draco! You didn't

add enough Wolfsbane, this could ruin the entire potion! Shoot, we need unicorn

horn to balance it out, now," at this point Draco and Hermione had both been

thinking that exact thing. Both their hands reached for the unicorn horn, and as

they were both about to grab it, they're hands met, Draco's on top of

Hermione's. And to both their surprise, a jolt shot through both their bodies,

like electricity. They both gasped and pulled their hands away quickly,

completely forgetting about the unicorn horn or the bubbly like green mess that

was starting to poor over the sides of the cauldron. Their eyes met, and they

both knew that the connection they had, had become so much more intense. In the

next moment, as Draco was about to say something heart-felt and love professing

to Hermione, the potion they had forgotten started to make a horrid screeching

noise. The stare they held was broken, as they both turned towards the potion,

there was a large boom. The last thing Draco and Hermione felt and saw was a

large amount of green slime splattered the potions classroom, as they both were

knocked back from being so close to the mess. Draco fell, his head hitting the

hard dungeon floor, making him pass out instantly. Hermione's fate though, was

quite a bit more horrific. The force had pushed her back into the table behind

her, which had, sadly, been Neville's. His potion had exploded as soon as

Hermione hit the table, her arm getting splattered with whatever concoction

Neville had created, as she fell to the floor, the last thing she felt was her

arm starting to burn, as if Neville's mystery goo was eating her alive. Then,

she too passed out. The whole class was in chaos. Students were trying to remove

the green slime from themselves, others running to get madam Pompfrey, some

trying to awake the two unconscious students. While Snape was, to no prevail,

attempting to stop the chaos. Everyone knew that Hermione was in a lot of

trouble, for Neville's flesh eating potion was slowly spreading. Draco had yet

to awaken, for his head was bleeding. The two students were slowly depleting,

the question was, how long did they have until it was too late for even magic to

fix?

...…

Still half-asleep, Draco slowly began to awake from his injury induced sleep.

The bed seemed unfamiliar to Draco, who was used to silk sheets and the

fluffiest of comforters, leaving him to think back to what had lead him to be

under such circumstances and relive the entire experience from potions the

previous morning. 'I must be in the hospital wing, was it really that that bad?

I wonder how Hermione faired from this mess,' Draco thought to himself. And

then, as if he had been jolted with a form of intense magic, he was sitting

upright. "Hermione!" this being the only word Draco sputtered until someone next

to him gently pushed him back down.

"Take it easy mate, Hermione's in the bed next to you. She was busted up pretty

bad but madam Pompfrey says both of you will be able to return to classes

tomorrow," Blaise told Draco in a reassuring tone.

Draco closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, trying to process what had

happened. "I've got such a retched headache, what the bloody hell happened? How

long have I been out of it?" Draco asked Blaise in a slow, monotone voice as if

talking to fast would make him pass out again.

"You passed out yesterday morning, you and Hermione have been out ever since. As

to what happened, it's a bit difficult to process. Though, from what I was,

Granger yelled at you for something, the potion you'd been making, became

quite... Angry would seem to fit, and the two of you weren't able to fix it in

time, and boom! Green goo everywhere. You just fell and hit your head, it must

have been pretty hard, there was a large bit of blood. Granger though... Mate,

it was really bad," Blaise finished with a pained expression. Draco turned to

Hermione to see her arms covered in white gauze, some areas, were a shade of red

as if she had bled through them.

"Damnit Blaise, what happened? Why didn't they just fix it with magic?" Draco

finished, sounding both worried, and extremely angry.

"Sorry, it's just, it was BAD mate. The blast from your potion had knocked her

back into Neville's table, and of course, his potion was a train wreck. And,

well, it exploded on her and whatever it was, it started to burn her flesh,

instantly. It spread fast too. Madam Pompfrey barely made it in time to save,

you from blood loss, and her from Neville's horrid concoction. The thing is

though, whatever it was that came out of Longbottom's caldron couldn't be

removed with magic. Pompfrey had to scrub it all off by hand, and fast too.

Madam Pompfrey let me stand guard over the two of you. The two of you had quite

a bit of people attempting to visit. Plenty of gifts to, all delivered to the

heads dorm."

The whole time Blaise described Hermione's incident, Draco's composure began to

slip. He started to shake his head back and forth, not wanting to process it

all. "it's all my bloody fault Blaise, if I had just done the stupid potion

right she wouldn't be in this situation. I can't believe this," Draco sighed,

pulled himself slowly to a sitting position and put his head in his hands.

Blaise understood how bad Draco must have felt and tried his best to comfort

him. Soon though madam Pompfrey arrived and gave Draco a potion to relieve his

headache and put him back to sleep, to last until the following morning.

Little did anyone know, during the entire conversation held between Blaise and

Draco, Hermione had been coming in and out of her deep sleep. The only thing she

was able to comprehend in her state of pain induced sleep was Draco as he took

the blame for the incident and at that, Hermione's hand gave a small shake.

Though it was so indiscreet that in order for anyone to notice, your gaze would

had to have been directed straight at that hand. Sadly, this wasn't enough to

bring Granger out completely, for as fast as the awareness had come, she was

back within the deep sleep.

...

Hermione found herself in an unfamiliar bed, and as soon as her composure

settled, she knew that she was in the hospital wing. As her eyes began to

flutter open, she heard the sound of someone saying her name in a desperate

tone.

"Come on Hermione, I know you can do this, wake up please Mione," Draco said to

her in a low pleading tone. Hermione turned to Draco, a bandage wrapped around

his head, and looked at him, confused as to what was going on.

"What happened? Wait. The potion? It blew up didn't it? Oh we're getting failing

marks for potions. I'm so sorry Draco it's all my fault. I can't believe I did

this. Oh just think of what everyone must be saying!" Hermione finished in a

hurry.

Draco pushed Hermione down gently, for in her rant, she had pulled herself into

a sitting position. "It's all right Hermione, just as long as you're okay,

everything will be fine," Draco told Hermione softly.

"How in the world do you know? We're head boy and head girl! This sets a horrid

example!" Hermione shrieked through tears.

"I guess that's true, but I definitely know nothings ever going to hurt you like

that again, and that I will NEVER mess anything up like that again." Draco

sighed, taking hold of her uninjured hand.

"What?" Hermione asked confused, looking up into Draco's lovely gray eyes.

"I swear, from this moment on, I'll do whatever it takes to keep you protected,

safe, and happy." Draco slowly moved closer to Hermione, being careful, as he

didn't want to cause her pain by possibly touching her injured arms. At this

point, Hermione knew what Draco was doing, yet made to attempt to stop him, for

she too wanted it.

Then Draco gently pressed his lips to Hermione's and yet before either had a

chance to react, Ron burst through the hospital wing doors.

"Bloody hell, Hermione!" Ron shouted, extremely confused by the situation in

front of him. "You said I wasn't good enough, then you go around snogging this

scum? The guy who treated you horribly all our years here!" at this point, Ron

was furious as he continued to yell such things at Hermione. Conveniently

enough, Harry had been walking down the hall, to visit madam Pompfrey to ask

about remedies for headaches when he heard Ron shouting. He ran as fast as he

could and when he entered the room Ron was yelling, not at Draco, but at

Hermione.

"Stop it Ron! Hermione needs to rest," Harry said to his friend dragging him

back towards the door.

"No Harry! He kissed her! That bloody ferret kissed Hermione!"

Harry gave a slight look, showing disapproval, but kept his composure. "We'll

discuss it later Ron but for now Mione needs to rest!"

"This isn't over you stupid ferret," Ron spit at Malfoy but his glare was

directed at Hermione, and with that she began to cry.

Draco had been trying ever so hard to keep his composure, for Hermione's sake,

but at Ron's last comment, Draco lost it. "You annoying little Weasel. You can

spit hatred at me all you want but when you make Hermione cry, that's where I

draw the line. Calling me a bastard? Telling me I'm scum? I'm not the one who

just made the greatest person alive cry! Now you sir, are the scum," Draco spit

the last comment at Ron, letting the hatred settle in. Then, as Ron was about to

hit Draco, Blaise stepped into the room, saw the issue and helped Harry hold Ron

back. Hermione's tears began to spill more continuously at such a sight as she

began to yell for them to quit fighting but all four of the boys minds were

occupied, whether it was from defense, hatred or focused on holding Ron back,

none of them listened to her.

Madam Pompfrey, who had been visiting a professor heard the commotion as she was

making her way back. She barged through the hospital wing doors and saw what

Ronald was doing and yelled at everyone to get out except Hermione and Draco.

She gave Ron detention for a week and told Harry and Blaise that the next time

there was an issue like that to get her instead of just holding Ron back.

This left Draco alone to comfort the still sobbing Hermione.


End file.
